


dreaming of you

by ivy_seas



Category: WTFock | Skam (Belgium)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Christmas, Domestic, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Gift Giving, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Slice of Life, it's a little bit of everything, they're so cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:07:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27857306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivy_seas/pseuds/ivy_seas
Summary: Snow, gift giving, wrapping presents, watching movies in bed (+ other activities in bed), celebrating Christmas together.—christmas au
Relationships: Sander Driesen/Robbe IJzermans
Comments: 12
Kudos: 126





	dreaming of you

**Author's Note:**

> here's a christmas fic since it's december :) happy early holidays everyone, ENJOY :)

**friday, december 23 19:56**

The smell of coffee spread throughout the small kitchen of the flatshare as Robbe sorted through the mail that had arrived earlier in the day. He made a mental note to let Zoë and Milan know they each received a package, likely Christmas gifts so he didn’t prod with them too much to potentially spoil anyone’s surprise. The flatshare was nearly silent aside from the faint sound of traffic from below and consistent hum of the coffee machine. Robbe set aside the two mugs just as his phone lit up with three new texts.

Sander, 7:56 pm: _I’m soooooo stupid_

_I’m a minute away and realized I forgot my key_

_let me in :(_

Robbe laughed softly to himself as he read the messages, making his way to the door and soon hearing footsteps on the other side. Sander didn’t have to knock before Robbe opened the door and was met with his smiling face, flush and rosy from the cold. Snow flurries dusted his beanie and jacket but Robbe didn’t care, stepping forward to embrace his boyfriend as they usually greeted each other. Sander automatically returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around Robbe’s waist and pulling him in tight, chest to chest, reveling in his warmth compared to the brisk snowfall outside. He was likely soaking Robbe’s sweatshirt as they held onto each other, but neither made the effort to move. “Hi,” Sander spoke softly.

“Hi,” Robbe replied, muffled by Sander’s shoulder. He nuzzled his face further into the fabric, breathing in his faint cologne and being relieved to finally be able to spend the rest of their night together, alone since his flatmates would be returning later that weekend from visiting family.

They stayed like that for a moment longer, Robbe hesitantly lifting his head a bit to remind them, “Our coffee will get cold.”

Sander sighed, still having his arms wrapped around Robbe as he leaned down slightly to place a gentle kiss on his lips, taking his time as to show Robbe he couldn’t care less about coffee when he hasn’t kissed him in nearly five days as they’ve both been so busy with schoolwork the past week before finally being on holiday.

Robbe slightly opened his mouth in response and Sander eased into it, bringing up one gloved hand to hold the side of Robbe’s face, smiling into the kiss and feeling Robbe do the same. There was an unspoken feeling of _I missed you so much I’m so happy to be able to touch you and be with you after so long_ that guided their movements, Sander continuing to kiss him as he slowly toed off his boots and kicked them to the side, dropping his duffel bag next to the door and letting Robbe walk backward and guide them into the kitchen before they reluctantly separated from each other. Sander took off his hat and gloves and placed them into the pockets of his jacket, which he draped over one of the kitchen chairs. He looked up to find Robbe holding two steaming coffee mugs. He outstretched one toward Sander, which he appreciatively accepted.

They each took a long sip in unison, looking over the brim of their mugs at each other. Sander laughed quietly and lowered his, placing it on the counter and making his way toward Robbe again.

“What?”

“Nothing. You’re so cute,” he said without thinking, raising his hand to lightly brush away some hair from Robbe’s forehead. Robbe scoffed but let him play with the strands as he pleased. His hair was shorter now as he just got it cut despite Sander practically begging him to leave it long, to which he compromised by only getting an inch or two off. Sander’s was shorter and slightly darker than Robbe’s, looking healthier than ever since he decided to ditch the blonde and grow out his natural brown.

Robbe grinned. “I missed you.”

“I missed you. So much.” He lowered his hand to grab Robbe’s at his side, intertwining their fingers and slightly swaying their arms back and forth. “I had, like, four big projects due this week because apparently it’s okay to bombard your students with work so long as they have the next week off for holiday. And I could barely focus on them when I was wishing the whole time that you were there studying beside me, I miss studying together,” he let out.

Robbe recalled how swamped they both were for the past five days, unable to even visit each other after classes to work on their assignments in the same room as they often did, enjoying each other’s company and occasionally leading into an unintended makeout session followed by a _“Wait, I really have to finish this, though,”_ which was then followed by more making out until one reluctantly gave in to the unavoidable assignments calling out to be completed.

This week, though, Robbe only had time to meet up with his friends from school to study for their exams, all of which he felt decently about. Now, he was relieved for it all to be over and to finally have a few days—at least—with Sander. Christmas was a special time for them since it was the first holiday they spent together a year prior, since then having formed their own small traditions to take part in throughout the month.

“I know, I miss it too. But now we have plenty of time to _study_ ,” he made air quotes with his fingers, “this weekend.” He smirked, and Sander’s gaze lowered as he proved to have no patience for Robbe’s teasing, tilting his head and replying bluntly.

“Oh, we will be doing a lot of studying this weekend. A lot. Over, and over again. Hope your flatmates take their time coming home, I know they don’t like how loud we tend to get during a good study session,” he said unabashedly, Robbe’s eyes widening.

“Sander,” he said accusingly, lightly punching his shoulder and Sander let out a laugh as he wrapped his arms around his waist again.

“What? Well, actually I still need to wrap my presents. Maybe we can do that now? And decorate the tree tomorrow,” he nodded toward the post-it note Zoë left on the fridge, reminding Robbe to put up the ornaments while she was gone. Sander must have noticed it on his way in.

Robbe nodded, “Yeah, we can wrap gifts. But let me do yours first while you’re not in the room, and don’t ask me a million questions about it and try to guess what it is like last year.” He half-rolled his eyes, hands dropping on Sander’s chest to play with the drawstrings of his hoodie.

“Okay, okay, fine. I know it’ll be perfect anyway,” he squeezed Robbe’s side and leaned in to kiss his temple. “I’ll wrap mine for you, too. How was your last exam?”

“Good, I think.”

“So all of them were good then?” Sander said brightly, looking at his boyfriend with pride and affection. Robbe nodded. “You’re so smart,” Sander said and peppered light kisses all over his face, making him giggle. Sander loved that sound.

“Did you end up figuring out that technique that was giving you trouble for that one project?” Robbe remembers Sander texting him updates a few days ago about how his teacher had assigned something he was almost totally unfamiliar with, forcing him to learn it via Youtube tutorials on his own.

“Yes! It wasn’t that bad, after all,” he grinned.

“I knew you’d figure it out,” Robbe leaned in to give him a chaste kiss and Sander hummed, leaning it for more. They moved until Robbe’s back hit the counter and Sander gripped his sides to lift him up onto it, connecting their lips again.

Robbe wrapped his arms around Sander’s shoulders and mumbled against his lips, “You taste like chocolate.”

Sander laughed and spoke between kisses, “That’s because you gave me hot chocolate instead of coffee, baby.”

Robbe didn’t want to stop kissing him. He laughed at his own mistake, “Oh, sorry. Should I make another…” Sander barely let him apologize, slipping his tongue into Robbe’s mouth and giving his thigh a light squeeze.

“No, hot chocolate is perfect. You’re perfect.” They kissed for a while longer, Robbe gently wrapping his legs around Sander’s waist to pull him closer. It was typical for them to get distracted this way, as they usually did, but this time there were no flatmates around to scold them until they got back on track with whatever they were supposed to be doing. This was also why Zoë stopped asking Robbe to cook dinner whenever she was going to be home late and Sander was over, because that rarely ended up being done in a timely fashion. It was either them wrapped up in each other like they were now, or Sander coaxing Robbe into slow dancing in the small space to one of his oldie songs, or just fooling around and having an unintentional food fight with the ingredients that were supposed to be their dinner.

Robbe pulled back a bit and Sander whined, moving to kiss his jawline instead. “Presents, Sander…” he insisted unconvincingly, his hand traveling to lightly tug on Sander’s hair as he sucked on the skin beneath his jaw. “Sander…” His eyes fluttered closed, Sander daring him to give in for longer.

He finally pulled away, placing his hands on Sander’s shoulders and admiring his swollen lips and slightly mussed hair from their antics. “After we wrap presents.”

Sander sighed and dropped his head onto Robbe’s shoulder in defeat, “Fine.” He lifted his head and gave him a smirk, moving his hands to Robbe’s hips where he started tickling his sides, “But then you’re mine for the rest of the weekend.” Robbe shrieked and curled in on himself, laughing uncontrollably as Sander ran his fingers across his waist and torso.

“S-Sander,” he breathed out. “St-stop or no studying this weekend,” he managed to let out and Sander immediately dropped his hands, giving him a look. Robbe sighed in relief and sat up straight again.

“Not even funny,” Sander shook his head and Robbe laughed.

“ _Presents_ ,” he insisted, poking Sander’s chest and hopping off the counter.

“Okay, okay,” Sander followed him into the hall where he stopped to grab the wrapping paper from Zoë’s room. They made their way to Robbe’s bedroom, and Robbe grabbed a pair of scissors from his desk to cut a large sheet of wrapping paper for himself.

“I’m getting your gift, look away,” he said and Sander grinned, turning to face the other wall and covering his eyes with his hands as Robbe rummaged through his dresser to pull out the vintage Bowie vinyl he happened to spot while browsing a record store with Jens earlier in the month.

 _Jens was looking for some newly released record that was apparently in stock according to the store’s website, so Robbe looked around himself in the meantime. He thumbed through the vast piles, immediately stopping to pick up the Bowie record like he just came across a miracle. It was a limited edition version of the Japanese release of_ The Man Who Sold the World _, Robbe’s eyes scanning the cover and feeling the worn edges with his fingers. His eyes widened at the sight of a faint but surely recognizable signature on the sleeve. He shook his head, thinking he couldn’t have possibly come across a signed, limited edition Bowie vinyl on a random day in a random record store when he wasn’t even necessarily thinking of gifts. He brought it over to the counter to make sure. The owner assured him it was legit, telling him the store got in two signed Bowie vinyls the day prior from one of their normal donors, the other already having been snatched up by another customer. Robbe eagerly paid the man and felt a weight lifted off his shoulders, feeling like he had just scored the best gift for Sander._

“Okay, I’m going in the living room now,” Robbe said, trying not to let his voice crack with excitement as he walked toward the door and into the hall.

“Okay, don’t be long,” Sander uncovered his eyes once he heard the door close and sat on the floor where he rummaged through his duffle bag for the small box he picked up from the jeweler last weekend.

_One evening when they were cuddled together in Sander’s bed, the fall rain hitting the window and Netflix playing quietly from his laptop, Sander reached up absentmindedly to play with Robbe’s angel pendant as he normally would in this position. After a few seconds of softly running his finger across Robbe’s collarbones and neck to no avail, he frowned and looked up at Robbe with a questioning look, “You’re not wearing your necklace.” It was surprising, since he had never seen Robbe remove the chain except for the one time he had to have the clasp repaired months ago._

_Robbe nodded and let his own fingers ghost the area where the pendant would usually lay. “Mm…” he hugged Sander tighter as he began to explain. “With me being so busy lately and not being able to see my mama as much as I used to, I decided to let her keep it with her the last time I visited.” he weakly smiled down at Sander, who looked up from laying on Robbe’s chest._

_“You’re so sweet. The perfect son,” he said, leaning up to kiss the corner of Robbe’s mouth._

_It just so happened that Sander received a promotional holiday catalog for a jeweler a few towns over in the mail, something he would usually toss but after flipping through the pages a certain featured item caught his attention. It was a white gold, dainty chain similar to Robbe’s, except there hung a small ring instead of a pendant. He read the description to discover the jeweler offered personal engravings on the inside of the ring, showing examples with coordinates or names._

_He decided to drive down to the shop that afternoon and place the order for a personalized version of the necklace, the inside of the ring being engraved with the coordinates of the beach where they met, which soon became their form of escape on weekends or holidays when they had the time to go down together. All of his memories with Robbe there made his heart flutter with the urge to only make more._ _He thought it was cheesy for a moment, but ultimately smiled at the thought of Robbe’s reaction to it and wearing it around his neck like some kind of reminder, some kind of reassurance that Sander would always be there._

He smiled to himself as he cut a small sheet of paper and began folding it around the box, sealing it with tape and safely tucking it away in his bag. Robbe knocked on the door a few moments after, asking, “Did you finish?”

“Yup.”

“Turn around again, the shape of mine is going to give it away.”

Sander turned and covered his eyes again, replying, “Okay, I’m not looking.”

Robbe entered back into the room and slipped the wrapped vinyl underneath some clothes in his drawer before sitting down on the floor beside Sander and tugging on his sleeve. “Okay, all good.”

Sander lowered his hands and faced Robbe. “So you got me a new shirt. So nice of you, baby,” he tried guessing the gift already.

Robbe shook his head, “No.” He moved to grab the other gifts he bought for his flatmates so they could resume wrapping. Sander placed his in front of them as well.

“New paints. The ones we looked at when we were at the store last week and I said I liked,” he raised his eyebrows expectedly. Robbe’s eyes widened a little at that; he did buy Sander a few of those paints in addition to the vinyl and had already wrapped them last weekend. He tried to look collected.

“I don’t remember that,” he lied. Sander smirked.

“Oh yeah? Remember I said I liked the blues because I’d never worked with something so pigmented before, and you agreed they looked cool, and then you started browsing them and looking at the price tags when you thought I wasn’t looking,” he teased.

Robbe hit his arm, “Stop. Okay, but that wasn’t what I was wrapping just now.”

“Okay, now I’ll spoil one for you so we’re even. I got you that wrench or whatever you said you needed to repair your skateboard,” he said too fast before Robbe could stop him.

“Sander!” He laughed incredulously at his boyfriend’s idea of ‘being even’ by spoiling the other gift he got him. “Wait… Did you really?”

Sander laughed and crawled over to where Robbe was kneeling, kissing the top of his head. “Yes, I did really. I don’t know if I got the right one since hardware stores aren’t really my forte, but let’s hope,” he crossed his fingers and Robbe laughed.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“You love it.”

“Yeah?”

Sander tackled him onto the ground and started attacking him with kisses, making Robbe squirm and giggle in surprise.

“Okay, okay, I love it, I love you, now let’s finish these.”

“I love you, too,” Sander said with one final kiss, pulling back to see Robbe shake his head in amusement.

They continued to wrap gifts for the next half hour or so, teasing each other about what they bought, and applauding the other for the creativity in some of the choices. By the time they were finished and had put everything away again, Robbe’s phone went off with messages from Milan.

He relayed the message to Sander, saying how Milan would be returning tomorrow afternoon and Zoë likely in the evening. He said he hopes all is well and reminded Robbe and Sander to take advantage of the empty flatshare, something he apparently “rarely got to enjoy” himself. They both laughed at that. Robbe set his phone down on his nightstand.

Sander sat on the edge of the bed and pulled him in by the waist, “Come.”

Robbe lifted himself so he was straddling Sander’s lap, the two fitting into each other perfectly, Sander caressing his back underneath his sweatshirt.

“So, ‘studying' for the rest of the night?” he said lowly, leaning in to press a sweet kiss to Robbe’s lips, which he happily accepted and returned.

“Mhmm…” Robbe hummed into it, hands reaching the back of Sander’s neck to run through his short hair, caressing it.

The kiss was tender and slow, neither feeling rushed as they knew they had the whole weekend and then some to be together. Sander’s hands roamed Robbe’s back, pushing his sweatshirt up until they had to disconnect so he could pull it over his head and throw it somewhere on the floor.

They resumed kissing, Sander licking into Robbe’s mouth and feeling him shiver. He slowly guided Robbe on top of him as he laid on his back on the bed. Robbe tugged at his hair a bit, making Sander groan in the back of his throat in anticipation. He hurriedly pulled his own shirt off and they pressed against one another, chests flush as their hands wandered each other. Sander always found new places to memorize on Robbe’s body, taking his time whenever they were intimate to explore. He ran his fingers down Robbe’s spine, his other hand roaming to the back of his thigh and pulling it toward him, making Robbe hitch his leg higher up on the sheets. Robbe’s hand found the waistband of Sander’s pants, already feeling the tension through the fabric.

“Gift wrapping getting you hot?” he joked.

“I’m not going to lie, Robin, I’ve been having this issue since five minutes after I arrived.”

Robbe smiled and leaned back up to slot their lips together.

They spent the next few minutes—or what somehow felt like both mere minutes and whole hours at the same time—immersed in each other, making up for lost time. The sheets became tangled, as did their limbs, the air in the room growing warmer and filled with both spoken and unspoken declarations. Sander collapsed on his stomach next to Robbe as their chests rose and fell.

“Oh my god,” Sander managed to say, looking at Robbe as he tried to catch his breath. “Fuck.”

“I know,” Robbe agreed. He weakly lifted his arm to trace the faint beginnings of what would probably become scratch marks on Sander’s back, gasping in surprise when he felt blood. “Shit,” he held his open hand in front of Sander’s face, fingers faintly splotched with red. “I didn’t realize I was doing it that hard.”

Sander just let out a breathy laugh. “It’s okay, baby. It was hot,” he lifted himself on his side and scooted closer so he could leave a chaste kiss on Robbe’s forehead. Robbe mirrored his position so they could face each other.

“Really?”

“Yes, oh my god, I hope that becomes a regular thing,” he said earnestly. Robbe let out an embarrassed groan, turning to hide his face in the pillow, only looking at Sander with his one exposed eye. “I’m serious,” Sander pushed, “I love when we mark each other up, in whatever way.” He winked, reaching out to lazily caress the early marks of love bites surrounding Robbe’s collarbone.

Robbe only hummed quietly in response, voice muffled by the pillow. He caught himself by surprise when he let out a yawn into the fabric, nosing into it tiredly as his eyes dared to close.

“Tired?” Sander asked quietly and tucked a stray piece of Robbe’s hair behind his ear.

Robbe nodded. “But we need to shower. And change the sheets,” he said while eyeing the mess of damp linens that surrounded them.

Sander lazily made grabby hands at Robbe, silently asking him to come closer, which he did. They fit into each other, Robbe’s head on Sander’s chest, their legs tangled and slow breaths syncing up. Sander gently grazed his nails down Robbe’s arm, humming in contentment. “Wait until our Christmas sex,” he said, voice raspy into Robbe’s unruly hair.

Robbe softly laughed, “Better than this?”

“Oh, you have no idea,” he smiled, kissing atop of his curls.

**saturday, december 24 14:34**

“Sander, stop it,” Robbe giggled, reaching up to pull off the pieces of tinsel that Sander put in his hair.

“But I like decorating you more,” he pouted, forgetting about the tree.

“I told Zoë we would finish before she comes back, come on,” he implored, handing him another box of ornaments.

“Okay, okay. But for the record, you’re making it very hard to stay focused when you’re wearing my shirt _and_ those jeans I said were my favorite on you,” he complained, hanging another ornament on an empty branch.

“You can’t say anything, you’re literally wearing my sweatshirt and every time it rides up I’m reminded of last night,” he replies, visualizing in his head the array of scratch marks he left behind.

“Oh, I’m constantly thinking of last night,” he gave Robbe a lopsided grin, handing him another ornament. A light blush spread across Robbe’s cheeks and the bridge of his nose, and he was about to respond when they heard the door being pushed open.

“And the place isn’t burnt down!” Milan spoke into the phone, dropping his overnight bag on the floor and shrugging off his jacket. “No, no, Zoë, I’m looking at them right now. The tree is…”

Robbe and Sander both widened their eyes at him, whispering “ _finished_ ” and gesturing their hands wildly as to signal him to lie.

He narrowed his eyes at them and continued, “… _finished_ … Yes, yeah it looks great. Very…”

Robbe picked up a piece of tinsel and shook it in front of his face.

“Tinsel…y. No, it really is done, it looks great. We’re so excited for you two to come back, right boys?” He held out the phone between Robbe and Sander and they both crouched down a bit so they could hold their ears next to it.

“Yes, so excited! When are you coming back?” Robbe said enthusiastically into the microphone.

“We’re on our way now, should only be twenty minutes. Can’t wait to see!” She replied.

Robbe and Sander both gave each other a nervous look, realizing they still had plenty of boxes of ornaments to get through. Milan pulled the phone back to his own ear. “Oh, they’re so cute. Can’t even find the words they’re so excited. Love you! Bye!” He spoke hurriedly and hung up before Zoë could even say goodbye. He sighed and dropped his arms to his sides, looking at the half-finished tree. “Okay, let’s get this done.”

They finished decorating not even thirty seconds before Zoë and Senne arrived, managing to put away the empty boxes and even hang a garland from the fireplace, Robbe and Sander feeling proud of their shared idea. The tree glowed brightly and lit up the space, giving a warm glow that made Robbe just want to cuddle under the blankets on the couch with Sander and watch Christmas movies until he fell asleep.

He was taken out of his thoughts when Sander came up behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist and resting his head on his shoulder. “Hot chocolate?” He asked and kissed the side of Robbe’s neck. He smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, and then movie?”

Sander grinned, “Movie marathon?” He turned Robbe around in his arms so their faces were mere centimeters apart.

“Yeah,” Robbe leaned up, capturing Sander’s lips with his and kissing him softly, wrapping his arms around his shoulders.

“Oh, that’s beautiful.” They pulled apart to see Zoë and Milan gazing out the window at the falling snow. The sun would set soon, the sky already cloudy and dim. Milan looked back at them, still wrapped in each other. “Not you two, well you are also beautiful, but look at this snow.”

Robbe and Sander chuckled lightly, walking over to the window as well. The snowfall wasn’t heavy, just enough to dust the roads and melt away seconds later, but accumulating on the sidewalks and awnings. Robbe couldn’t help but think it was the perfect image of the holidays, street lamps decorated with wreaths and red bows, cars driving past, likely to Christmas Eve dinners or to visit family for tomorrow. He felt his heart grow in his chest at how happy he was to spend another Christmas with Sander and his flatmates, completely loved and knowing his mama was doing well, spending the holiday with her sister at her home right outside of Antwerp. He looked up at Sander, who was already beaming at him, seemingly having an idea in mind.

“What?” Robbe asked slowly, curiously, and Sander just grabbed his hand and led him to the front door, hastily putting on his boots. “What are we doing?”

“We’re going out in the snow, Robin,” he replied like it was obvious, handing Robbe his coat, hat, and gloves.

Robbe looked at him incredulously. “Now?”

“Yes, now. Put these on.” He used his foot to slide Robbe’s sneakers toward him. Robbe could only follow his orders, putting on his winter apparel and looking up to see Sander grinning, grabbing his hand again and heading out the door, racing down the stairs with Robbe in tow, who laughed at the childishness but carefree feeling of it all. They finally got outside, almost colliding with the other people walking past the building.

Sander raised his arms, looking at Robbe in delight, “Look, it’s great.”

Robbe laughed and nodded his head, already feeling jittery from the cold. “Yeah, it’s great.”

Sander dropped his arms and frowned, “You’re not excited enough.”

“It’s really cold Sander, I can barely feel my fingers,” Robbe replied.

Sander shook his head. “You know what would make this more fun?” Robbe tilted his head questioningly. Sander reached over to where the snow was piling on the ground next to the building, packing it into his gloved hands.

“Oh no…” Robbe began to turn away, side-stepping down the street as Sander drew his arm back only to release the snowball and hit Robbe in the arm. He exclaimed a _“Got you”_ while Robbe quickly repeated his actions, forming his own and managing to strike Sander on his chest, so harshly he had to step back to keep his balance. Robbe giggled, covering his face with his hand to conceal his laughter. “Got you,” he repeated and started walking briskly down the street.

Sander chased after him, “You’re a menace.” They were both laughing hard as they ran down the sidewalk, other passersby probably confused by their antics, but they didn’t care to notice. Robbe only got so far before he was lifted into the air by Sander who looped his arms around his middle, letting out a yelp in surprise. He put him back down and Robbe turned to face him. Sander intertwined both of their hands, looking down at him ardently as their noses and cheeks grew pink from the cold, eyelashes catching snowflakes. “Merry Christmas, baby,” he dipped down and kissed Robbe once, rubbing his nose against his, then kissing him again, longer, before resting their foreheads together.

“Merry Christmas,” Robbe sighed out in response, deep brown eyes illuminated by the streetlights and voice almost swallowed by the sound of cars rushing past. He couldn’t think of any other place he would rather be in that moment, and, to be honest, he didn’t think it mattered.

**23:01**

Robbe snuggled further into Sander’s chest, bringing his hands that were covered by the blanket up to his nose, engulfing himself in the warmth. Their hair was still slightly damp from having taken their second shower of the day together, now laying in bed with Robbe’s laptop in front of them playing the third and final Christmas movie of their marathon.

Just as the end credits began to roll, a knock on the door made them lift their heads, followed by Zoë asking if she could come in.

Robbe paused the movie and replied back, “Yeah, it’s open,” being too lazy and way too comfortable to actually get up and open the door.

She opened it slowly and smiled when she saw them bundled together under the blankets illuminated only by the faint glow of the laptop screen and desk lamp, earning warm smiles from them in return. “Hey. Just wanted to let you know Senne and I are running out for some last-minute, _really_ last-minute food shopping for tomorrow, so if you hear the door, don’t be alarmed.” They nodded in response. “Anything you need us to pick up while we’re there?” she asked.

Sander spoke up, “Hot chocolate, please. We finished it.”

Robbe whispered out a _“Sorry”_ and Zoë just laughed, “Okay, we can get more. Goodnight,” she turned to close the door behind her.

“Night,” they replied in unison before the door shut, and Robbe bent forward to shut his laptop and place it on his nightstand, returning to Sander’s arms with a blissful sigh.

“I want to give you one of your gifts now,” Sander whispered. Robbe pulled back to look at him quizzically.

“Not tomorrow?”

He shook his head, “I want it to be just me and you. It’s less of a Christmas gift and more something I’ve just been meaning to get you.”

Robbe nodded, “Okay.”

Sander grinned and slowly rolled out of the bed, walking over to his duffel bag to pull out the small box, sitting back down cross-legged over the blankets and Robbe did the same, facing him.

Sander handed him the gift, “Here.” Robbe took it into his small hands, gently tearing open the wrapping paper to reveal the small black box. He raised an eyebrow at Sander. “Open it,” he couldn’t stop smiling and nodded toward the box, holding his own hands in his lap in anticipation.

Robbe slowly opened it, eyes immediately going wide as the necklace lay perfectly inside, shining against the dim light in the room. His finger traced the chain until lifting up the ring to examine it more closely, Sander speaking quietly in front of him.

“I had it engraved on the inside.” Robbe read the small lettering, immediately having an idea of what it meant, eyes faintly glossing over as he couldn’t find the words to respond or even thank him. Sander continued, looking at the necklace in Robbe’s hand. “I know how much your necklace means to you, and I’m so, so happy you kept it with your mama, I just wanted to give you this, not as a replacement, but just a… placeholder, or reminder. Of us. They're the coordinates of, you know, our place, the shore...” he breathed out.

Robbe still struggled to piece together a response in his head, feeling guilty because he didn’t want Sander to think he didn’t love the necklace, because he did. So many memories, the most recent of which included them spending night after night talking about their future together, professing their love for one another, only needing each other in those moments. Robbe wished he could live in those small pieces of their history for the rest of his life, but at the same time he was so ready to take on whatever would come with Sander, and he knew it would be everything he wanted. He just stared at the dainty chain as tears welled in his eyes, Sander placing a hand on his wrist. “Baby?”

Robbe didn’t say anything, just crawled toward Sander, practically in his lap, and hugged him around his middle, burrowing his face into his shoulder. “Thank you,” he managed to get out, damp eyes wetting Sander’s shirt. He hugged Robbe back, smiling over his shoulder and rubbing a hand up and down his back in a soothing motion.

Robbe pulled back, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand and laughing quietly at how taken aback he was by the gift. “I love it, thank you. I love you.”

“I love you, so much,” Sander replied truthfully, rubbing his thumb over Robbe’s knuckles.

“Help me put it on?” Robbe asked and Sander nodded, feeling his eyes burn a bit, too, at the idea of finally seeing Robbe wearing it. Robbe turned around and Sander placed the necklace on his chest, fastening the clasp and letting it drape delicately over his nape, bending down to place a faint kiss over it. Robbe turned back around, bringing his hand up to play with the ring as he would with his original pendant. “How does it look?”

Now it was Sander’s turn to have the words caught in his throat. Robbe looked so small, so _perfect_ and sleepy and radiant _,_ all of Sander’s imagined visualizations of him wearing the necklace not even coming close to this real moment. He didn’t respond, only leaned in to meet Robbe’s lips and give him a slow, languid kiss. He mumbled against it, “You look beautiful.” Robbe smiled and threw his arms over Sander’s shoulders to caress his hair, pulling him in closer. They eased their way back down onto the mattress, going back to their position from before, snuggled tight and pulling up the layers of blankets for warmth. Sander reached down to Robbe’s chest and let his own finger trace the ring, saying softly, “I’m serious. It looks better on you than I could’ve imagined."

Robbe glanced up to meet his eyes, green almost completely overtaken by his pupils dilated wide. “You mean everything to me,” he let out, holding onto Sander’s hand that was still tracing the necklace.

“You’re everything I want, everything I need,” Sander replied, realizing how sappy they were getting but not wanting to take back anything that was being said; it was all true. Robbe reached behind him and turned off the lamp, moving impossibly closer to Sander until they were glued together, legs tangled and arms draped around each other. Sander whispered out, “Goodnight, Robbe.”

“Goodnight.”

**sunday, december 25 07:59**

Robbe woke to sun streaming through his curtains, squinting and surprised to see from his alarm clock that it was so early.

Sander sensed his movement and grumbled into the back of his neck, half awake. He pulled Robbe closer to him, Robbe’s back to Sander’s chest, who hugged him from behind. The air smelled like a mix of their shampoo and fresh linens, Robbe smiling to himself as he felt the new coolness around his neck, reaching up to play with his necklace. He then took Sander’s hand that rested on his stomach and intertwined their fingers, feeling suddenly filled with joy and tranquility.

“Mmm…” Sander hummed into his skin. “Merry Christmas.” He nosed the hair on Robbe’s nape.

“Merry Christmas,” Robbe replied, bringing their hands up to his mouth to press a soft kiss to Sander’s palm. He nuzzled himself into his pillow and Sander’s body, getting more comfortable and almost falling back asleep.

“What time is it?”

“A few minutes after eight,” Robbe read the clock.

“Ugh, when are we opening presents with everyone?” Sander asked, voice still hoarse with sleep.

“Not sure.”

He hummed in response. “What do you think everyone would say if we just stayed in bed for the rest of the day?”

Robbe laughed, squeezing Sander’s hand in his and feeling him smile against his skin. “I think they wouldn’t think we were being very festive.”

Sander jokingly groaned, slipping his leg between Robbe’s and letting out a yawn.

Robbe picked up his phone from his nightstand just as a new notification buzzed. He opened the group chat with Jens, Aaron, Moyo and Sander, reading the new messages as they came in.

Jens, 8:20 am: _Merry Christmas broerrrs_

Aaron: _Merry Christmas man_

Moyo: _Merry Christmas broerrrrss_

Robbe typed his reply and shut his phone off again before looking at Sander over his shoulder. His eyes were closed, face relaxed and looking so peaceful as he drifted in and out of sleep, occasionally moving to pull Robbe closer to him, even though they were already completely flush.

The two eventually fell asleep again, waking around an hour later to the sound of footsteps and doors opening and closing throughout the flatshare, everyone else already awake and getting settled in the living room to open gifts.

Robbe lightly jostled Sander’s arm, saying, “Time to get up, baby.”

Sander sighed defeatedly, finally letting go of Robbe and rolling over to get out of bed. The two absentmindedly went about their morning routine, getting dressed and making the bed to the best of their ability, heading to the bathroom to brush their teeth next to each other and make eye contact through their reflection in the mirror, making them smile around their toothbrushes.

By the time they padded into the living room, Sander still yawning and running a hand through his hair tiredly, the three others were already sitting around the room with gifts in their laps and coffee mugs in their hands, leaving one couch open for them to sit.

“Hey,” Robbe said, sitting down with Sander doing the same, still needing Robbe’s warmth so he crowded him at the end of the couch, looking similar to the position Zoë and Senne were in.

“Hi,” the rest of them replied, everyone still a little sleepy.

Zoë pointed under the tree. “Pick a gift from your pile, we’re gonna go around and open them.”

The five of them spent the next hour or so opening each other’s gifts, some surprising and others making them die of laughter. It was impressive how well they all knew each other from having lived together for a little over a year (with the exception of Sander, who practically lived there lately). Robbe reached down to pick up the vinyl and pass it to him, and he raised his eyebrows.

“I wonder what this is,” he said, half-joking, and Robbe waited for him to open it, taking a sip from his coffee mug.

Sander stripped off the wrapping paper, revealing the cover of the vinyl and he let out a quiet gasp. Robbe grinned, watching his reaction.

Sander flipped it over once, twice, three times to get a good look at all of the rare features, going rigid when his fingers traced over the signature on the front. “No way,” he said, staring in disbelief. Robbe nodded. Sander turned to him. “Is that real?”

Robbe lowered his mug from his face. “Um, I would hope so.” He laughed, “Yes, it’s real. And look at the inside sleeves.”

Sander excitedly did as he was told, eyes widening at the limited edition prints and visuals on the inside. He felt the textured writing, turning the cover ever so slightly so he could gently pull out the glossy record inside, staring in awe.

“Robbe, this is insane,” he said, not being able to stop examining it, reading every little detail and routinely flipping it back over just to get another look at the signature. He set it down beside him on the couch and nearly tackled Robbe into the cushions, kissing his forehead, his cheeks, his nose, everywhere. “IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou,” he repeated.

Robbe laughed and smiled brightly, loving to see Sander this happy. They were broken out of their moment by Milan clearing his throat and Senne and Zoë snickering at their unabashed tendencies to get lost in each other while in a room full of people.

“Sorry, sorry,” Sander apologized and hurriedly sat back up, bringing the vinyl back onto his lap to keep reading the inside. Milan, Senne, and Zoë rolled their eyes while watching the two, falling into their own conversation as the gifts were all opened by that point.

Robbe could only shake his head fondly, leaning on Sander’s shoulder as he held his mug with both hands and let Sander point out certain details in the writing to him, explaining what they meant. Robbe nodded in listening, always comforted when Sander was in his element like this, talking about the things he liked.

Robbe tilted his head up to give Sander a light kiss on his temple. Sander turned his head and connected their lips with ease, bringing up one hand to hold the size of Robbe’s face and curl his fingers in the ends of his hair. He pulled back, whispering, “Thank you.”

Robbe smiled, reaching out to trace Sander’s eyebrow and smooth out the hairs there. Sander relaxed into his touch, leaning his side against the back of the couch and Robbe doing the same.

“You know, this is the best Christmas I’ve ever had,” Sander admitted, gazing at Robbe.

“Me too,” Robbe replied without even having to reconsider it. “And next year will be even better,” he said gently, caressing the side of Sander’s face with the backs of his fingers.

“I don’t know how, but every day with you gets better and better,” Sander professed.

Robbe curled into his side then, letting Sander wrap his arm around him and kiss the top of his head, both of them saying so much without saying anything at all. And Robbe glanced at the window at the snow still falling steadily outside, contrasted to the warmth he felt in Sander’s arms, and couldn’t wipe the smile from his face, living in this moment and this moment only.

The End


End file.
